Arizona Capitol to see GOP hold slip

The state Senate will get a makeover with the election of a new Republican president who leans further right than the current chief and a 17-13 partisan split that is likely to make Democrats more relevant.

The House will remain under the direction of Republican Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden. But he will lead a smaller caucus whose final numbers are still in question as ballots continue to be counted.

It adds up to a GOP-controlled Legislature beginning in January 2013 that will not have the muscle of the supermajority that has ruled the past two years and may be pulled apart by internal disputes.

The election results could also set the stage for some tense showdowns with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer over looming issues such as Medicaid expansion, whether to establish a health-care exchange and how to craft the next state budget.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday picked Andy Biggs, a 10-year legislative veteran from Gilbert, as their president. He squeaked by current President Steve Pierce on a 9-8 vote that reflected the ideological split in the caucus. Biggs is considered to fall in with the more conservative bent of the party, while Pierce is viewed as more moderate.

Pierce, R-Prescott, walked away from the meeting with little comment.

“Someone lied,” he said, suggesting that one of the senators who had committed to backing him switched his or her vote to Biggs.

The 17 Republican senators who gathered at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix for a closed-door meeting also picked John McComish of Phoenix as the majority leader and Adam Driggs, also of Phoenix, as majority whip.

The selection of the two, who are less ideologically driven than Biggs, adds balance to the leadership team, said Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler.

In the House, Republicans voted to return Tobin to the speakership. They elected Rep. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, as majority leader and Rep. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, as majority whip. They fall on the more conservative side of the House ideological spectrum.

Democrats will meet this afternoon to pick their leaders.

The Republicans’ internal elections were made against a backdrop of protests from the GOP committees in five counties, including Maricopa County. Committee leaders urged their elected officials to oust Pierce and Tobin and replace them with Biggs and the more conservative Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, who won a House seat Tuesday.

They got their wish in the Senate, said Pinal County Republican Chairman Stephen Kohut, who helped lead the campaign to change legislative leadership. He said the resolutions from the five counties accounted for 70 percent of registered Arizona Republicans and added that lawmakers who ignored their message did so at their own peril.

“Decisions have consequences,” Kohut said of the House Republicans’ vote to stick with Tobin. “If I was them, I’d be looking out for 2014.”

Kohut said the committees’ dissatisfaction stemmed from the failure of several pet bills from the more conservative wing of the party. For example, a set of bills that curbed the influence of labor unions passed the Senate, only to die in the House. Supporters blamed Tobin. Bills to further clamp down on illegal immigration didn’t get far in the Senate. Backers blamed Pierce.

And both Tobin and Pierce drew grass-roots fire for their administration of campaign accounts designed to help elect Republicans.

Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, spoke for many when he faulted Pierce for not deploying money from the Republican Victory Fund to help three GOP candidates in Pinal and Pima counties. All three lost. Melvin suggested Pierce didn’t want these more-conservative candidates in the Senate.

Pierce has denied having any sway in determining where the dollars should go, citing a law that says independent committees cannot coordinate with candidate committees. However, Pierce has been active in raising thousands of dollars for the fund.

Biggs on Wednesday said he intends to reorganize the Senate after meeting with his 16 GOP colleagues. He noted that the GOP’s smaller numbers — 17 compared with this year’s 21 — will require more collaboration and said he will reach out to the 13 Democrats.

He said the new Senate’s priorities have yet to be hammered out. But he noted the state budget is likely to continue its hold-the-line approach, relying on a “rainy-day fund” to help the state through anticipated deficits in fiscal 2015 and 2016.

In the House, Tobin said his first goal is to “continue making sure that we’re fiscally responsible, helping the business community grow jobs and make Arizona the best place in the country to come to.”

For her part, Brewer watched the elections from afar.

“I’ve always subscribed to the fact that it’s their sandbox,” she said of lawmakers. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and work with them and get the job done for Arizona.”

Posting a comment to our website allows you to join in on the conversation. Share your story and unique perspective with members of the azcentral.com community.

Comments posted via facebook:

► Join the Discussion

azcentral.com has switched to the Facebook comment system on its blogs. Existing blog comments will display, but new comments will only be accepted via the Facebook comment system. To begin commenting, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. While we welcome you to join conversations, readers are responsible for their comments and abuse of this privilege will not be tolerated. We reserve the right, without warning or notification, to remove comments and block users judged to violate our Terms of Service and Rules of Engagement. Facebook comments FAQ

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.